Robson E. Ely

Robson E. Ely

Robson Edward Ely suddenly passed away on February 15, 2019, at the age of 57.

Rob was born in Madison, WI on February 5, 1962. He spent his early years in Madison and moved with his family to Danville, CA while still in elementary school. By the time he entered high school, his family had moved to Renton, WA where Rob attended Kentridge High School.

Rob participated in sports (basketball, baseball, skiing, tennis and golf) and Boy Scouts, where he achieved the level of Eagle Scout. He attended the University of Washington business school where he met his wife, Sharon. While attending the UW he belonged to the Chi Psi fraternity. He graduated with a Business degree in accounting. Rob and Sharon moved to San Francisco for Rob’s first career job with Peterson and Company. In 1989, they moved to Minneapolis, MN where Rob attended the University of Minnesota and earned his MBA. Finally returning to the Northwest, they landed in Beaverton, OR near Portland, and he started working for Consolidated Freightways. Many happy years were spent there raising their two children Amanda and Mark. Later the family moved to Puyallup, WA for Rob’s work in the medical industry. Rob last settled in Mercer Island, WA and worked for Swedish Medical Center.

Rob was a loving and loyal man who took his responsibilities seriously. He always looked out for his family and extended family. He was a good-natured and outgoing guy who easily struck up conversations with complete strangers. He enjoyed watching all sports, especially Husky football and traveled to the 2019 Rose Bowl to cheer on his beloved Huskies. He had a memory for sports and history and could easily recall dates and statistics of old and current events. Traveling to new places, whether in the USA or elsewhere in the world was exciting and fun to him. He relished reading up on the culture and history of places he visited. His humor and laughter were contagious and cheered his family and friends.

I had the pleasure of knowing Rob for many years, dating back to our days at MultiCare. Since we both ended up at Swedish, Rob would frequently stop by my office for a chat about “the data”, but would ALWAYS start out the conversation with a personal inquiry like, “Hows your daughter doing over at Central?”. ALWAYS, before business talk, he cared to ask. I loved that about Rob and will miss his stops to say hello and chat about what was on his mind. My prayers are with the Ely family and his coworkers during this difficult time.

I had the true joy & pleasure to have hired Rob at Swedish in 2012. He brought to our team a broad base of experience, enhancing the data & reporting services provided. He took pride in the work he did, always taking it to the next level. Always curious, wanting to learn more, an engaged team member, colleague and friend. I will miss you Rob. My thoughts and prayers are with the Ely family, he loved you all so much.

I just heard Rob passed away. My heart sank because it was completely unexpected: I did not expect to hear such news about my college friend Rob, and though we did not keep in touch after college, I figured I had plenty of time to get back together with Ole Ely, as well as all my Ole college buddies. I have known Rob since we began college at the U.W. and he was just a top-notch human being. Absolutely top-notch. I will miss him tremendously.

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Important Announcement Regarding Deaths in King County

Families and their Funeral Service Providers, including Barton Family Funeral Service, are experiencing significantly delays in obtaining death certificates from King County while King County implements an electronic system called EDRS. (You may read about it HERE)

We have been using the EDRS system for several years for deaths occurring in other counties such as Snohomish County. We know the system well and are trying to help physicians and hospitals as they make the transition. Because King is such a large county, the transition is taking longer than we have experienced in the past, and unfortunately we are all experiencing considerable delays in obtaining death certificates.

County and State officials are very cooperative and are working diligently to facilitate the change. We ask for your patience and assure you that we are doing everything possible to meet your expectations.